Ted (2012)

This story is about a Christmas wish that comes true.

It all began at Christmas, 1985, in a small town outside of Boston. John Bennet (Mark Wahlberg) was a lonely 8 yr. old little boy with no friends, he had no siblings and no matter how hard he tried he just couldn’t fit-in with other kids, not even the neighborhood sissy. But then came Christmas morning and John opened the BEST gift ever: a great big fluffy stuffed bear! His eyes lit up as he hugged the bear and it spoke to him, “I LOVE YOU!”, he was overwhelmed with joy and named the bear, Teddy. Suddenly, John had his very own friend and he spent the rest of the day playing and sharing secrets with Teddy. Later that night, right before falling to sleep, John made a very special Christmas wish to his new friend.

“Ya know, I wish you could REALLY talk to me! Because then, we could be best friends for ever and ever!”

The next morning John woke alone in his bed and began searching for the lost bear. All of the sudden, standing on his own two feet with both arms stretched out, “HUG ME!... You’re my best friend John!” It was Teddy and he just shocked the shyt out of little John! “Did you – Did you just talk?” John asked. In a cute little kid voice, Teddy replied “Don’t look so surprised, you’re the one who wished for it, aren’t you?” There he was having his first real conversation with a stuffed Teddy-Bear… Well as you can imagine, this made John the happiest little kid in the whole world and he couldn’t wait to spread the news. He ran down to tell his mom and dad and they both totally freaked out, but Teddy quickly won them over; soon everyone knew about Teddy the talking bear. He was in the newspapers and all over the TV and even had a sit-down with Ed McMahon on the Jonny Carson Show. Yup, Teddy was an instant sensation but above all else, he was John’s Best Friend!

That was 27 years ago… And although John is all grown up now with a job and a live-in girlfriend, Lori Collins (Mila Kunis), he still prefers to spend most of his time hanging out with Ted, but then again, who wouldn’t? I mean, he’s a party animal, what could be more fun than kicking back getting drunk or hitting the bong with your childhood Teddy Bear? HA! None the less, John and Lori have been together for 4 years, and although it’s been great, she thinks it could be a whole lot better if Ted moves out. Well, considering their situation and the fact that even after 4 years, John still isn’t ready for marriage; it seems like a fair compromise to keep her happy. So John helps Ted get a job and his own apartment, from there Ted finds his own girlfriend, Tami-Lynn (Jessica Barth), she’s really into that fluffy bear thing. (hehe) At any rate, although he and John continued to hang tight every day, everything else seemed to be going much better. Until, that is, the guys decided to get the girls together for a nice dinner. Lori, in a pinch, explained that “… Ted’s very handsome, so I’m always interested in meeting the lady that can snatch him up.” Oh man, Tami took offense and being the beautiful dumb blonde that she is, immediately replied “Did you just call me a whore?... You just worry about your own snatch! How bout that, honey!...” Now as you can imagine, that didn’t go over very well and Lori’s fed-up because she needs a real man! So while Ted quickly escorted Tami away, John was left promising to get his shyt together; “You’re right… I been bumming around with Ted too much, I know that… You give me one more chance, I promise I can fix it.” Well, he got his chance, and while at a big corporate party at Lori’s boss’s house, John blew it by ditching her there to join a party over at Ted’s house. John lost track of time while partying with Ted and their childhood hero, Flash Gordon (Sam J Jones). Big mistake! Now Lori’s done and gone and ready to move on.

But in the end, this forever friendship withstands the test of time as Ted promises to back off and leave John alone; he convinces Lori to give John one more last chance. And then as fate would have it, Ted found himself in a whole lot of trouble with a spoiled rotten brat that had sights set on having his own talking Teddy-Bear and a crazy father that promised to give him the only one around.

In Time (2011)

Could you imagine living in a future era where TIME is the global currency?

Well, Will Salas (Justin Timberlake) lives in such an era and all he ever really wants is to wake up each morning with more Time on his hand, than Hours in a day. You see, everyone is genetically engineered to stop aging on the Hour, Minute and Second of the day that they turn 25 years old. At that very moment, their internal clock begins to tick away, and they have only one more year to live unless they can get more time. Time is the currency everyone lives by, they earn it and spend it and when it’s all gone they die; the rich can live forever while the poor live by the minute, literally.

Will and his mother Rachel (Olivia Wilde) live together in Dayton, which is considered to be a ghetto zone. Today is her 50^th birthday and as her birthday gift (TIME) he gave her 3 days. She needed every minute of it too because she owes more than half of it for bills (rent, electric, food, etc.) Most people here work very hard to earn more time, some people borrow from time-lenders (banks) or minute-men (loan sharks), while others fight (arm-wrestle) which is the riskiest way to gain time because the winner takes all. Will works in a factory with his best friend Borel (Johnny Galecki); they earn time by making capsules which are portable devices used to store and save unused time, much like a piggy-bank. He’s no super hero but he does go out of his way lending a hand to those in need!

Chaos breaks out when a wealthy aristocrat goes slumming in Dayton with a death wish and suddenly all the time in the world means nothing when every minute counts and Will is just one second too late. In despair, he takes us on a thrilling adventure into a higher class zone as he seeks vengeance for the pain and sufferings of the poverty sectors. While in the new zone, Will meets a rich businessman named Philippe Weis (Vincent Kartheiser) and his daughter Sylvia (Amanda Seyfried) during a high-stakes poker game. Sylvia invites Will to a party at her home where he ends up being accused of murder right before being stripped of all but 2 hours of his time. Without a minute to spare, he grabs Silvia and makes a fruitless attempt to regain some gifted time so he can afford to keep running from the timekeeper and minutemen who are trying to stop him from bringing down this corrupt system by spreading the wealth.

Total Recall 2012

By the end of the 21^st century, the use of global chemical warfare has left most of planet Earth’s vast land masses uninhabitable. Mankind has been reduced to only two territories, the first of which is now called The United Federation of Britain (UFB) and it predominately consists of the United Kingdom, Ireland and the northern coastal regions of France. The second of which is now called The Colony, otherwise known as Australia. Workers from The Colony travel through the planet each day on the only transport possible, an underground shuttle known as “The Fall”.

Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston) presides over both territories along with his military police force and enormous brigade of robot sentinels. Cohaagen is in a continuous battle against Matthias (Billy Nighy), terrorist leader of the resistance movement that is fighting for equality of The Colony. Douglas Quaid (Colin Ferrell) and his wife Lori (Kate Beckinsale) live in The Colony and both commute to the UFB where Lori is an emergency medical technician and Douglas works in a factory with his close friend Harry (Bokeem Woodbine); they build the defense robots for the UFB’s synthetic police force.

Recently, Douglas has been plagued by reoccurring nightmares of being chased by UFB sentries while attempting to escape from some strange building with a mysterious woman. Although Lori knows about these dreams, he doesn’t seem to feel completely comfortable discussing details with her, or anyone else, for that matter. Unable to shake the dreams, he’s decided to pay a visit to Rekall to explore the options of creating a new memory, and his fantasy: well of course, is to be a secret agent. Ahhhh, but something went wrong during the implant process and what started off as a friendly sales pitch has now ended in a confused confrontation with a gun pointed in his face followed by Federal Police bursting into the Rekall parlor and killing everyone except Quaid. But the confusion doesn’t stop there. See, the police intended to apprehend him before he could become implanted and although it seems they may have been at least partially successful, something inside him has been triggered. And while they attempted to take him into custody, he snapped and turned tails on them by grabbing a gun and shooting every officer in sight (the room was full). He managed to escape the parlor and return home where Lori was inside watching the news on TV while waiting for him. In a panic, he began to explain his version of what just happened; she quickly calmed him down and claimed that Rekall had screwed up his mind by giving him some kind of paranoid delusion. Suddenly her warm and gentle embrace becomes a crushing death grip around his neck, OMG she’s trying to kill him too! He escapes her grip and during their struggle she’s explained that she’s actually UFB Intel, and that everything he’s experienced over the past 6 weeks has been the product of a memory replacement, “What can I say, I give good wife…”

Lori’s explanation has only created more questions and without killing her, he’s escaped once again; now he’s on a mission to find out who he really is. Turns out, the girl from his nightmare, Melina (Jessica Biel) is far more than just a mysterious woman. And in the end, he’ll have to decide whether to return to the boring life of a law abiding, happily married factory worker: Douglas Quaid, or remain as Hauser and continue the fight with Melina to free The Colony from Cohaagen’s corruptive evil plans to use his synthetic army to completely enslave all the people of both territories.

Super 8 (2011)

It’s the summer of 1979 in Lillian, Ohio. A group of middle school friends have been working together on a project to enter into a local Film Festival contest. Joseph Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his father Deputy Jackson Lamb (Kyle Chandler) are still recovering from the tragic death of Joe’s mother in the town’s steel mill four months ago. Jackson has decided to send Joe away to a Baseball Camp for the summer but Joe insists he needs to stay and help his best friend Charles Kanyk (Riley Griffiths) complete his project. Charles is trying to produce an unbeatable zombie movie but he’s been having troubles coming up with a storyline and his biggest concern is having to compete against older kids with more experience and better resources. Never the less, Charles has added a new character, Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) will be playing their hero’s wife. Now they have a zombie, a hero and with a new wife they’ll have the makings for an incredible storyline too. Alice has agreed to drive the crew over to the train station for a midnight sneak-out filming of some new scenes, and while the camera was rolling they all witnessed a horrifying train derailment purposely caused by a crazed truck driver. Panic sunk in when they realized the truck driver was one of their school teachers and that he had miraculously survived the crash, but he pointed a gun and scared them away by saying that they and their parents would be killed if anyone knew they were there. Suddenly, the US Air Force approached the scene, they ran to the car and Alice sped them all back to town where they made a pact to never repeat what they’d seen. But this was to be just the very beginning in a slew of strange events in their town’s near destruction and a summer that no one would ever believe or forget.

Facebook - The Titanic Version

Ok. To cut a long story short, Zuckerberg, the "mastermind" behind the economics of Facebook, decided it was time to ban any share on either your wall or timeline, since it wasn't paid for. You'd be ruled out either because your "favicon", aka the icon that appears on your adress bar when you access your own site or blog, or the content of your site, which is no way subject to copyright infringement, unless you are so idiot as to post on your own site full copies of some movies. Yep, Zuckerberg is the one on the left.

Then again, you can wipe out the grin on his face by reinstalling "facebook timeline remover". Just go to "www.timelineremove.com" and reinstall the add-on. 

Otherwise, I'm gonna post it on Facebook, see if it works.

P.S. Much to my surprise, they DID let me share this particular post on Facebook, hehe...

Brake (2012)

Could you imagine having such a powerful secret that it could save the life of someone you love? But, by telling that secret, you would be causing the death of many other innocent people and possibly even destroy the whole world around you. Well, that's what this story is about.

A man wakes up and realizes he’s trapped in some kind of plastic box with only the bright red glow of a digital clock to cut the darkness. Right away he calms down as he begins to suspect that this is just an attempt to collect on an overdue gambling debt; see, this man, Jeremy Reins (Stephen Dorff) has a bad habit and apparently he owes a lot of money to a loan shark named Morgan. While trying to find a weak spot in this tightfitting coffin, he begins to hear the panicked voice of another man, Henry Shaw (JR Bourne); who’s also trapped in the same kind of box, close by. But Jeremy’s comfort quickly fades away because Henry doesn’t know Morgan and he isn’t just another gambler with a huge debt.

Their boxes begin to move and they realize they’re actually trapped in the trunks of 2 separate cars; the cars stop and someone slips a note into Jeremy’s box. It’s a postcard of The White House and on the back is a message that reads: GIVE US THE LOCATION OF ROULETTE.

Suddenly everything changes and the situation becomes dire! Turns out they’ve been kidnapped by terrorist who plan to attack the United States of America. Henry is a Foreign Service officer working for the state department and Jeremy is a special agent with the Secret Service. Although both men have been sworn under oath to serve and protect; Jeremy is the only one that actually knows the exact location of the president’s underground bunker. Now Jeremy knows that he can’t talk about anything that involves the government and there are not a lot of people that he can trust. But they already have Henry, his wife and their children, and soon they’ll also have Jeremy’s wife Molly (Chyler Leigh) along with several other government officials, and no one is safe; the terrorists are threatening to kill everyone if he doesn’t give up that information. Still, despite risking the lives of strangers, friends and loved ones, Jeremy clings to his oath by refusing to divulge the top-secret location. He gets his hands on a cell phone and finally manages to reach a trusted friend, Ben Reynolds (Tom Berenger). But as time runs out and no matter how well he’s able to keep his secret; Jeremy is about to learn that, nothing, is what it seems to be!

Prometheus 2012

The year is 2089 and doctors: Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are heading an archaeology expedition when Elizabeth discovers a 35,000 year old cave painting in Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Four years later, it’s December, 2093 and now they’re in charge of a scientific team aboard the deep space exploratory vessel: Prometheus. Commander Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) and the rest of the crew have just been awakened from a 2 year cryogenic sleep monitored by an android named David (Michael Fassbender). Given a short recuperation period, the crew is gathered for a prerecorded holographic introduction to a feeble old man referring to himself as their “employer”, Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce). He informs them that, “… If you’re watching this, you have reached you’re destination, and I am long dead, may I rest in peace…” He introduces David as, “The closest thing to a son, I will ever have.” And then he explains that he’s spent his entire lifetime contemplating the questions, “Where do we come from; what is our purpose; what happens when we die?” Then he fades away after surrendering the assembly to doctors: Shaw and Holloway. Charlie explains that archaeologists have, through the course of centuries, unearthed numerous pictograms from ancient human civilizations that date back over thousands of years and depict men worshiping giant beings, pointing towards map like images of the universe far beyond the stars. Elizabeth concludes that they are there to seek out what she calls “engineers” that will lead them to “Our creators”.

Yup, Elizabeth and Charlie believe that humans were created by aliens, and Peter Weyland has funded an outer space mission designed to help them find and return evidence to support their theory. He was also secretly hoping they may even discover some sort of fountain of youth or Garden of Eden: as it were; he dreams of immortality. Go figure!

As they approach the new planet, Charlie sees a strange rock formation right in the middle of what looks like a well excavated runway, he directs Captain Janek (Idris Elba) to land their vessel in front of it. Charlie’s excited and immediately requests the survey team to suit-up; Janek suggests that, “There’s only 6 hours left of daylight. Why don’t you leave it till the morning?” But Charlie calmly declares “It’s Christmas Captain, and I want to open my presents.” He, Elizabeth and David suit-up and meet with 3 other scientists to begin exploring the hollow rock formation. While inside, one scientist releases several tiny balls that fly through every tunnel and digitally trace a 3-dementinal map that begins to appear back on Prometheus for Janek and Vickers to oversee. They don’t know it yet, but, they’ve just discovered a ghost ship whose crew bear an uncanny relationship to human beings. However, evidence found throughout the ship will indicate that these distant relatives were not planning a warm family reunion, after all; in fact, they were actually in the process of developing weapons of mass destruction. And Oh My, let me tell ya, we’ve all seen these weapons before!... Now the survivors of Prometheus will have to find a way to protect mankind by delivering these weapons to their rightful destination.

Facebook Timeline Remover, the "up right in your timeline" version

As mentioned in the previous post, the "Timeline remover" add-on, version 1.0.2, was the safe way to go. Since then, the 1.0.4 version has surfaced, which means that you can upgrade your add-on (Firefox) and still tell Zuckerberg to kiss your wall.

 I still have no answers for the Chrome users - probably because I'm way too lazy or, at one point in time I did switch to Google Chrome and it seemed to be so slow that I gave up.

However, update your "timeline remover" add-on. It's well worth it.

Of mice, keyboards and Facebook's Timeline Remover tweaks

"Over time, we expect governments will become more responsive to issues and concerns raised directly by all their people rather than through intermediaries controlled by a select few. Through this process, we believe that leaders will emerge across all countries who are pro-internet and fight for the rights of their people, including the right to share what they want and the right to access all information that people want to share with them." [via ME, the major shareholder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg]

Now, that you've basked in Zuckerberg's infinite wisdom, let's get to the point.

If you installed the Facebook Timeline Remover plug-in on either Firefox or Chrome, you might have noticed that it works pending the next restart of your computer. To save you the trouble, as soon as you install the plugin, access it via Tools - Add-ons - TimeLineRemove.Com - More (Firefox) and click the "off" check box when asked how your updates should be handled. I bet that is a similar strategy for Chrome users, I'll check it later and let you know.

The explanation is simple: you download the plugin from www.timelineremove.com, install the stable version (1.0.2) and, unless you tweak it as described above, the plug-in updates itself within seconds to version 1.0.3, forcing you to uninstall/reinstall the plug-in every time your computer restarts, in order for Facebook to acknowledge it. Furthermore, you can check it yourself on your Facebook account, via the drop-down list next to the Home option. Should it be effective, you'll see a Timeline Remover option at the bottom of the list. Version 1.0.3 is a beta version, which tries to keep up with the constant and chaotic changes that Zuckerberg's kill-joy squad are trying to perform on Facebook's code.

Obviously, there are plenty of morons out there trying to prevent you from installing this add-on. You are the master of your computer, you decide. Nobody tries to impose anything on you. As for the negative comments, there is a significant reply in the movie Paul (2011): "You can't win with these people!".

Facebook Timeline Remover - The Fall Edition

Firefox users: It takes about 30 secs to show Zuckerberg  a piece of your mind. Uninstall the Timeline Remover plugin, then reinstall it. Restart the browser. Your Facebook Wall will be back, full force.
Do it whenever Zuckerberg's dimwit posse tries to screw around with your wall and your friend's wall.

Chrome users: you do have other options as to kick Zuckerberg's fat ass, so, if you have any other "facebook timeline remover" add-ons, just keep them up to date.

www.timelineremove.com

Safe House (2012)

CIA operative, Agent Matt Westing (Ryan Reynolds) has become bored and frustrated with the seemingly insignificance of his high-tech undercover job as Housekeeper of CIA’s Safe House – 7, which is cleverly hidden in a busy section of Capetown, South Africa… Matt’s twelve month boredom is about to end with the arrival of his new Top-Secret houseguest, CIA’s most dangerous Intelligence traitor, Tobin Frost (Danzel Washington).

Frost is an ex-Intelligence operative with an extremely impressive CIA background profile dating back to 1984. However, he went rogue and fell off the CIA Grid about 10 years ago and now he’s wanted for espionage on 4 continents. On Thursday, Tobin Frost bought a Top-Secret file containing incriminating evidence and then mysteriously surrendered himself to the American Consulate in South Africa where, for all intents and purposes, a special team of investigators have been assigned to take him to Safe House- 7 for interrogation before transferring him back to the United States.

Now it’s early Friday morning and Matt’s whole life is about to change because shortly after Frost’s arrival, a group of heavily armed thugs breached the safe house and killed the entire investigating team while attempting to extract Frost from CIA custody… Someone inside the agency tipped-off the thugs, but Matt was able to escape with Frost and now they’re on the run… CIA Headquarters in Langley, VA has denied them access to the US Consulate and ordered Matt to secure Frost and stay off the grid till further notice… Hours later Matt gets in contact with his superior, David Barlow (Brendon Gleeson) who directs him to an active sports arena where a locker containing a GPS device will then lead him to a new safe house… Barlow assures Matt that if he can get Frost to that safe house, a new team of investigators will arrive soon to takeover and at that point, he can write his own promotional ticket to wherever else he wants to go… A short while later Matt reaches the locker and obtains the GPS device but then loses Frost to local police officers just outside the stadium. Although Matt tries to explain that he is an American police officer and Frost is his murderous prisoner, both men are apprehended and Frost is taken to the infirmary… The locals attempt to verify Matt’s story as Frost overtakes officers in the infirmary and escapes; Matt also escapes but then shoots and kills an officer outside while trying to regain Frost... Now they’re both wanted fugitives… Meanwhile back at Headquarters in VA, the CIA is busy trying to fit bits and pieces of Intel together to figure out what kind of valuable information was recently leaked to Frost that would be worth killing so many CIA agents. And in the hopes of identifying a mole in the organization, an in-depth internal investigation is ordered for the leader and all members of the initial investigative team that was sent in to Safe House 7 to conduct Frost’s interrogation… Later, Matt contacts Barlow to report that he lost Frost; another superior orders Matt to stand down, proceed to the consulate and present himself for debriefing, and then the Deputy Director assures him that he’s done a fine job and they’ll take it from here… That statement immediately reminds Matt of something Frost told him this morning when he said, you know you’re screwed when somebody says, “Ya done a decent job son, we’ll take it from here.”…  Matt’s in trouble and now he realizes that Frost is his only key to salvation and survival. So he cuts ties with his girlfriend and sets off to find Tobin Frost because he knows that he can never return to the Consulate alone... And in the end, Matt proves to be the “better man” when an unsatisfying conversation forces him to seek justice, but this time he's the one that will “Take it from here.” 

Battleship (2012)

Today’s breaking news story comes to us through Dr. Nogrady (Adam Goodly), the head of NASA’s Beacon International Project, as he announces that scientists have identified an Earth like planet that they believe could sustain life; their goal is to transmit a signal to what they’re calling, Planet G, from a communication station located on Oahu, Hawaii.

Elsewhere on Oahu, Alex Hopper (Taylor Kirtsch) and his brother Navy Commander Stone Hopper (Alexander Skarsgard) are in a bar celebrating Alex’s birthday; Stone recalls a quote from an old coach:

“Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself.”

Then he presents Alex with a single candle Birthday Cupcake and Alex wastes his one wish on a beautiful girl at the bar; but she’s not just any girl, Samantha Shane (Brooklyn Decker) is the daughter of Navy Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson). After quite an eventful night, Stone informs Alex that it’s time to grow up and he forces Alex to join him in the Navy.

Sometime later, thousands of sailors on dozens of ships are meeting in Hawaii for RIMPACA XXII; the world’s largest International Maritime War Games Exercise with 14 Navies and 20,000 Navy personnel, and the event also includes a memorial ceremony held on the decommissioned USS Missouri honoring Old-Salt (senior war veterans). It’s kind of like the Olympics, with game exercises on land and at sea. Alex has become a Navy Lieutenant and he did get the girl, he’s been dating Samantha all along, and now it’s time to formally ask for her hand in marriage; but he’s so intimidated by Admiral Shane that he screws up every opportunity he gets. Including today, even after Samantha had reserved specific private time for them to talk; Alex gets into a brawl with Japanese Captain Yugi Nagata (Tadanobu Asano) and Admiral Shane lashes out at him confirming his disapproval. The sea exercises begin and Alex is on the USS John Paul Jones, while Stone is on the USS Sampson; he informs Alex that the JAG will probably kick him out of the Navy after they’re done with RIMPAC. Meanwhile Dr. Nogrady, NASA, and the US Air Force are in contact with Cal (Hamish Linklater), the lead scientist at the communication satellite array station in Hawaii. 5 strange objects have entered our atmosphere, Cal has been advised to brace for impact as some of the unknown objects crash into the Pacific Ocean near him as well as several other areas around the world. NASA tells the Secretary of Defense that they believe this may be an alien response to the communication signals that they have been transmitting. Lucky for us, our Navy fleets are already in the Pacific and the floating objects can be seen by eye, but cannot be detected by radar. Alex gets sent out to investigate the floating objects and manages to activate some kind of force field, 3 Navy ships are trapped inside the barrier while the remaining naval fleets are located outside. Pretty soon, 3 large unfamiliar vessels emerge in front of the floating object; Stone orders the firing of a single warning shot for which the enemy retaliates and all hell breaks loose, 2 of the 3 trapped ships are annihilated. The enemy has also launched more strange objects to attack military bases and transportation infrastructures on land. Aliens have also landed on Oahu and NASA has determined that the aliens are planning to use our satellite array in Saddle Ridge Oahu to direct more of their kind to wage an extinction level event here on Earth. After a ferocious battle inside the barrier, all 3 Navy ships and 3 enemy vessels have been destroyed and all that’s left are a couple of lifeboats with far less than one ship’s full crew. Aliens are still on Oahu setting up to get their signal out and now, Alex and Captain Nagata need to find a way to blow up the Satellite array station before the aliens begin to transmit. But the only ship left in the harbor is the decommissioned USS Missouri, she’s a floating museum and these soldiers have no idea how to get her back into combat condition. However, once they get aboard, the ship’s hull comes to life with Old-Salt manned at all stations. “Oh brother, somebody gonna kiss the donkey!” And on that note both young and old Navy soldiers are ready to Rock, Lock and Load the USS Missouri into position to destroy the satellite array station and reclaim our planet.

Battleship is action packed with drama and awesome special effects, and indeed another Must See movie!

Lockout (2012)

The year is 2079 and unfortunately corruption is still alive and well in Washington D.C.

Ex-CIA Operative, Snow (Guy Pearce) has been arrested and is now being interrogated by the Head of Secret Service - Special Agent Scott Langral (Peter Stormare); Langral wants Snow to tell him what happened in a New York City hotel room the night CIA Agent Colonel Frank Armstrong was killed, but Snow doesn’t trust Langral and is refusing to tell him anything.

 (Apparently, Frank had a package containing evidence about an inside spy selling Top Secret information. Snow was supposed to help Frank deliver his package to the president. But Snow got to the room too late, assailants were already in the room and one of them shot Frank before Snow could kill him. Just before Frank died, he handed Snow his dog tags and a flip top lighter and told him not to let them get it. All of the sudden, lights were flashing and bullets were flying, Snow grabbed the briefcase laying on the floor next to Frank and took off. He managed to make it to the subway station where his buddy, Mace (Tim Plester) was waiting for him on a train, but police had him surrounded so he threw the briefcase into the train and watched it pull away. Mace took the briefcase to another station and hid it in a locker but while he was leaving, his gun fell out of his jacket and accidentally shot a police officer.)

Langral tells Snow that Frank was under surveillance for selling secrets about our space programs, and then he played a recording of Snow shooting Frank from behind. But that wasn’t how it happened. Pretty soon CIA Agent Harry Shaw (Lennie James) enters the room, and Langral steps out. Snow knows Harry and obviously trusts him because he told Harry that Mace has the briefcase. Langral has gone to speak with President Warnock (Peter Hudson) about Snow, and they learn that his daughter Emily Warnock (Maggie Grace) is away on a humanitarian errand.

She’s on a spaceship headed for America’s most efficient means of managing convicted criminals. M.S. ONE, a highly advanced outer space Maximum Security Prison equipped to house over 500,000 of the world’s most dangerous criminals by using a controversial procedure called Stasis (a controlled deep sleep). However, at the moment it’s still in a test phase and currently only holding about 500 prisoners. Emily’s mission is to learn more about the long term effects of Stasis on humans. So in a well secured setting, Emily will get to interview Hydell (Joseph Gilgun), an inmate who has just been awakened from Stasis.

And back on Earth, Langral informs Snow that he has just been convicted of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit espionage against the United States; and his sentence, a 30 year Stasis on M.S. One and it’s effective immediately.

Meanwhile up on M.S. One, there’s been a hostile takeover; Hydell got a hold of a gun, released all the prisoners and now he and his brother Alex (Vincent Regan) are holding the prison guards and staff including the president’s daughter hostage. The president needs Snow to go up to M.S. One, find and safely return Emily back down to Earth. But Snow rejects the idea until Harry secretly informs him that Mace is up on M.S One; Mace is the only one that knows where that briefcase is, and getting that briefcase back is the only way for Snow to regain his freedom. So, with that knowledge Snow accepts the mission. And once onboard M.S. One Snow will need all of his operative skills plus a whole lot of luck; he has to battle the inmates, bypass the security’s technology, get the girl, get Mace, locate their escape pods, get the girl again because the inmates got her back. Oh yes – and the clock is ticking; with no one to monitor the facility’s navigational system they are slowly falling out of space and will collide with Earth within roughly 8 hours: so Special Forces have been deployed to blow the prison up while it’s still in space. And even if they make it off the facility in time, there's still no telling what Snow's fate may be when he returns to Earth.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

Although it’s said that most expecting Royal couples pray for sons, this queen longed for a daughter and Snow White was in all aspects the answer to her mother’s wish. But she was to be an only child as the queen took ill and died while Snow White was a young girl. The king, grief stricken with deep despair from the loss of his beloved queen, was lured into battle by a dark force. Never the less, he and his army were victorious and even managed to rescue a chained damsel being held prisoner. The king became enthralled with her beauty and on the very next day they wed, but there was to be no happy honeymoon for the new Royal couple. For she was an evil sorceress, but now she is the evil Queen Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Her spells had well served their purpose so on that night she killed the king, brought in her army and took over his kingdom.

As Queen, she ordered the king’s young daughter to be locked away high up in a tower far from everyone and everything while she ruled the kingdom with her devoted brother Finn (Sam Spruell) at her side. Ravenna’s evil reign was so poisonous that over the years nature turned on itself; the land died, the people turned on one another and eventually all hope was lost. The Queen demands to be the only source of grace and beauty, but even she has a weakness; in fact she herself is the victim of a magical spell, except her’s was cast with love by her mother for protection. Her spell guarantees everlasting beauty, strength and unrelenting powers that can ever only be undone by the blood of one fairer than she. So to keep herself and her spell safe she relies on the truth and wisdom of a magical mirror to reveal“Who is the fairest of them all?” And for the past several years, the answer is always the same. However lately her beauty has been failing until finally one day, the mirror proclaims “On this day, one has come of age fairer even than you…” Snow White (Kristen Stewart) has been allowed to grow up and become the fairest of them all, and now she possesses the only thing that can destroy the Queen, the innocence of Fairest Blood. Gripped with anger and regret the Queen wants her killed but the mirror also informs her that she will achieve immortality by personally holding Snow White’s heart in her hands. Impatiently the Queen orders Finn to retrieve the princess from the tower, but Snow White overpowers Finn during a foolish moment of lax lust. She methodically escapes the tower and the Kingdom and then sets off on a quest to find Duke Hammund (Vincent Regan) with the hope that he can help her regain her father’s kingdom. Snow White swims through the sea and roams the land trying to stay ahead of Finn and the Queens soldiers until she stumbles into the Dark Forest; a disgustingly toxic swamp like wasteland that few have dared to venture and even fewer have survived to boast about. Once again Finn returns to the Queen to report his failure to retrieve the innocent princess, she sends him out to find someone that knows the forest and he returns with a troubled widower. Queen Ravenna commands the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth) to track and return Snow White, alive; but he refuses and cannot be swayed even by the threat of death. However, she persuades him with the promise of her power to bring his dead wife back to life. That proves to be an offer he can’t refuse. So the Huntsman leads Finn and the Queen’s soldiers out into the Dark Forest and, yes he does find Snow White. But as usual Finn fumbles again, he calls the Huntsman a fool and discloses that not even the Queen’s powers can bring his wife back from the dead. Well, after a scuffle both the Huntsman and Snow White vanish into the gloom of the forest. Meanwhile word of Snow White’s survival and escape has reached the Duke and he’s pleased to pass the news on to his son William (Sam Claflin), Snow White’s childhood best friend. William vows to find her and bring her to their castle for safety. He manages to infiltrate Finn’s search party and over time they finally catch up to Snow White, who by now has collected quite a group of protectors. Never the less, she still needs at least one more as William drops his disguise and pledges his allegiance to her safety, meanwhile the Queen is suffering from the severance of her better half, but the day ends in sorrow when not all protectors survive Finn’s surprised attack. William joins forces with the Huntsman, but to their dismay the Queen musters up enough magic to find Snow White and poison her. Her entourage mistakes her for dead, but continues to deliver her body to the Duke’s Castle; where, YUP, ya know it! True Love’s Kiss revives the fallen princess. And the Duke with his entire kingdom helps Snow White rain H3LL back on the evil Queen as she reclaims her father’s kingdom as the rightful heir.

Get The Gringo (2012)

American and Mexican Border Police are in hot pursuit of a couple of clowns on the run. The circus has come to town and its payday when the getaway car lands on Mexican soil with millions of dollars floating around in the back seat. Although Officer Vazquez (Mario Zahagoza) is more than happy to accommodate his newly unannounced guests, somehow this isn’t quite the “Sun and Fun” south of the border vacation that Driver (Mel Gibson) and his buddy had planned. Driver gets dumped in a crowded holding cell and then later transferred to general prison population where he quickly discovers that this place isn’t like any joint he’s ever been in before, and he’ll have to rely on his talents if he’s going to survive here. Within no time, he becomes a pathetically successful petty thief and befriends a 10 year old kid (Kevin Hernandez), who in time will tell and teach him the ropes of life in this prison. Soon he gets a visitor; a very unprofessional looking Embassy guy shows up with his police file. He points out that there’s no name in the file and it says Driver was caught at a downtown drugstore trying to buy valium without a prescription. He knows it’s an erroneous charge and he assumes that Driver is a career criminal because he doesn’t have any fingerprints. Driver doesn’t seem to trust the guy enough to give him any real information, and after they share a few sarcastic insults with each other, Driver knows he can’t count on this Embassy for anything. Eventually he gets back to talking with the kid again; and over time as they exchange secrets Driver realizes that this kid is his ticket out of prison. And in the end, if you look deep enough, sometimes there is some good in everyone.

Men In Black 3

Humans and other life forms have continued to thrive on planet Earth. But that’s only because unbeknownst to most, the evil Boglodite known as Boris the Animal (Jemaine Clement) has been firmly chained, contained and locked away in a maximum security space prison on the moon called Lunar Max. Boris has spent the past 40 years scheming for his revenge against K, the MIB Agent responsible for his maiming and degrading incarceration. See, back then Agent K disrupted Boris the Animal’s alien invasion plans for earth; he also shot Boris’ left arm off in the process and then arrested him.

Today a small spaceship has crashed in an industrial area somewhere in New York City. MIB units are on site for clean-up and containment, Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) calls for attention while Agent J (Will Smith) uses his handy dandy Neuralizer on a gathered crowd of inquisitive bystanders and then J explains the crash as being fallen satellite wreckage. He follows Agent K away and they leave the scene discussing tonight’s upcoming event. The department has lost a fine commander, Agent Zed has passed away and K claims to have written a very moving eulogy for tonight’s memorial back at headquarters where we’ll also get to meet MIB’s new chief Agent O (Emma Thompson), who has become Z’s replacement. After the ceremony Agent O calls to inform K and J about recent reports of several humans suffering from alien parasites. They go to WU’S Seafood Restaurant where K suspects the owner of serving contaminated food to the customers, but while inspecting fish tanks in the kitchen, K discovers that WU may be involved in cooking up an even more dangerous meal. Several minutes later Agent O calls and confirms his suspicions, she informs him that the crashed spaceship from this morning was stolen by Boris the Animal after he escaped from Lunar Max. And as fate would have it, within the next several minutes Agent K is once again face to face with the dreaded Boglodite. Boris is about to release a deadly spray of spikes to kill K, but Agent J bursts through a steel door just in time to saves his life. After the commotion ends both Agents go back into WU’S and while MIB units clean up the area Agent K is reminiscing old regrets. J wants to go after Boris and he tries to get K to explain what happened 40 years ago, but K has been keeping a painful secret that he refuses to share, so he tells J to mind his own business and as J continues to pressure him; K ends the discussion by suspending J for the next 4 weeks. None of this settles well with Agent J, so he goes back to headquarters to do some research on the matter. Eventually he reaches a restricted area in the data files and (to his surprise) despite his senior agent Top-Secret security clearance level, his access is still denied. Shortly Agent O walks in and J soon discovers that she and K have a long history together that goes wayyy back, never the less; she’s of no help and is no more willing to discuss the past than K was, she sends him home with a word of advice, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to.” J takes her advice and goes home to unwind by playing videogames when the phone rings, its K and he’s finally ready to share some secretes of the Universe but J is being stubborn and he hangs up the phone before K can begin. On the other end K is both disappointed and yet relieved (he never really wanted to tell J anything about this part of the past) he knows Boris will be coming for him soon and he intends to be prepared when that event happens. However, K had no idea what Boris has in store for him so there was no way he could have been fully prepared. All of the sudden, BAM, and in an instant everything has changed! Well everything that is, except for Agent J’s memory.

The next morning J goes to visit K to get things straightened out, but when the door opens there’s some strange woman holding a baby and K is nowhere in sight; suddenly he begins to crave chocolate milk and he isn’t feeling very well. J needs answers so he immediately goes to headquarters to find out what’s going on! While inside, a strange man races to join him in the elevator, this man will not shut up; they finally reach the bottom floor where a different man informs J that Agent AA is his partner, J is looking for K but no one seems to know who K is. He begins to assume that the department is playing a joke on him. Moments later, Agent O walks up and agrees to take him to K. She leads him to a crystal headstone and explains that Agent K has been dead for 40 years; she further leads him to a computer and commands the data concerning Agent K and Boris the Animal, the computer displays a report explaining that Boris killed Agent K at Cape Canaveral in July of 1969. J demands that report untrue and after a bunch of senseless babbling and a split second gulping on a tall glass of chocolate milk, Agent O forcibly slaps him across his cheek, “Damnit it’s not the tic!” She tells him he may have been involved in a break in the timeline. After further explanation, J realizes that in order for him to save Agent K, he will have to travel back through time to July 15^th, 1969 and somehow find a way to stop Boris before he kills K.

Facebook Timeline Remover - summer edition

My dear friend, Mark Zuckerberg, added a new "update to the Facebook timeline", which prevents most of the users to see their own wall and/or their friends wall on Facebook. The man is relentless, which is commendable, but so am I... For you, those who face the situation described above, go to www.timelineremove.com and reinstall the add-on (it's version 0.4.9, which deals with the latest developments in Zuckerberg's money industry, hehe). But, before you do that, remove the previous add-on (I guess it is 0.4.5), via Tools - Extensions - Timeline remover - remove (Firefox). It works like a charm!

Red Tails (2012)

World War II – Italy 1944.

Due to overwhelming pressure from Civil Rights Organizations and the black press concerning blacks barred from flying in the military, the US Army Air Corps had for the first time in American War history added an African-American aircraft combat and pursuit squadron to their military forces in Europe. This squadron was a military experiment aimed to stifle and appease protest in the United States: the Air Corps selected and trained a group of all-black soldiers compiled of instructors, maintenance and support staff, navigators and all other personnel needed to keep combat planes in the air, including pilots. These black soldiers were known as the Tuskegee Airmen, they were never actually intended to be a part of any true combat operation therefore were merely supplied with old cast-off aircraft and equipment and only allowed to fly basic clean-up missions many miles far behind enemy lines.

As the war rages on, top military officials in Washington are planning to terminate the Tuskegee experiment due to negative media leaks. Colonel Bullard (Terrence Howard) goes to the Pentagon to defend the Tuskegee Airmen by announcing their valuable potential if given the opportunity of actual combat missions. Within days back at the airbase in Italy, Major Stance (Cuba Gooding Jr.) receives and shares new Frag-Orders with the squadron’s flight leaders; they have been given a combat mission to provide air coverage for a full assault marine beach landing.

Later back at the Pentagon, Lieutenant General Luntz (Gerald McRaney) is very impressed with the action report upon confirmation of the Airmen’s successful mission. He summons Colonel Bullard to discuss the heavy casualty losses his bombers are suffering under their current air support, Bullard assures him that with new planes and a new flight method the Tuskegee Airmen will reduce the bomber losses and help the Air Corps fulfill their target missions. Soon after, Colonel Bullard returns to the airbase in Italy, he instructs his pilots on a new strategy and informs them of the brand new fighter planes they will soon be flying in their new combat missions to provide air support coverage to various bomber fleets. Their planes will all bear the same red painted tail markings to make it easier for their escorts to identify them in the air. And so through the remainder of the war, as proud Red Tails, the Tuskegee Airmen overcame segregation, prejudice, and personnel loss as they became one of the most highly respected fighter groups of World War II. 

This is an excellent movie that stands as a perfect example of true human value and the pursuit of equality for all.  

Underworld: Awakening (2012)

Mankind has finally discovered that they have been sharing this world and coexisting beside two separate non-human species, Vampires and Lycans. This revelation comes in the wake of a new virus that ravages the human genetic code; it gives the infected immortality and causes them to morph into monstrous creatures incapable of controlling their own actions. Although governmental studies have yet to yield a cure they have at least confirmed a fatal sensitivity to ultra-violet light and silver. And so, with the development of new methods and weapons they have deployed a mass cleansing of society to identify and exterminate the non-humans.

Selene (Kate Beckinsale) is a notorious vampire who for many centuries had emerged victoriously from battles against the Lycan clan, she had been forever revered until she met and fell in love with a hybrid named Michael. Their union enraged her elders and she was condemned by her clan when she refused to kill him. Together the two have fought to protect each other from all species ever since, and now with this new purging they have decided to seek safety somewhere faraway from humans and their own kind. However the humans have sabotaged their escape and surrendered their remains as the governmental property of Antigen Laboratory so Dr. Jacob Lane (Stephen Rea) can continue his research in trying to develop an antidote for the disease that still threatens the human race.

Twelve years later Selene suddenly awakens from a suspended cryogenic sleep, she escapes the laboratory and is chasing the visions she believes are coming from Michael. These visions lead her into tunnels underground where the Lycans have been hiding, and then she meets David (Theo James) he’s another vampire who helps her to rescue a young girl Eve (India Eisley); Eve calls herself “subject #2” and tells Selene that she is “subject #1”.

Elsewhere aboveground, Detective Sebastian (Michael Ealy) has been investigating a string of strange recent events that have led him to Dr. Lane who denies allegations of a test subject’s escape and has deceivingly assured him that “all is fine and well” at the laboratory. Later, all h3ll brakes out after Selene learns that Eve is actually her and Michael’s daughter; Eve is unaware of her potential powers so Selene must risk everything to protect her. The humans and vampires both want Eve dead while the Lycans want to use her body to protect them against silver.  

21 Jump Street (2012)

Seven years after high school, two misfits get together when they each join the same police academy; Jenko (Channing Tatum) is still a jock; he has physique, but he lacks brains and common-sense. Schmidt (Jonah Hill) is still a nerd; he has book-smarts, but he lacks coordination and common-sense. They become friends as they decide to help each other through training and upon graduation they become partners as well. Their first assignment is Bike Patrol in a local park; but they muck up their first arrest on a group of pot smoking bikers by failing to properly Mirandize the perp. (Jenko doesn’t even know how to recite the Miranda-Rights.) But that’s okay, Chief Hardy explains that the department is reviving an old canceled program and one of the projects involves the use of young immature seeming officers and “You idiots are perfect. You’re officially transferred.”

Our two cops are then sent to a church on 21 Jump Street where they will report to Captain Dickson (Ice Cube) and receive their new assignment. During the initial briefing Dickson calls his new squad “some Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus lookin motherF’ers”, he’s teaching them to “embrace their stereotypes”; the unit will be working undercover as high school students and he orders them to “Teenage the F#&K-up!” and then he explains the restrictions leading up to the “GOLDEN RULE”, Do Not Get Expelled from school! HA!

There’s a new synthetic drug that kids call “HFS”; Dickson explains that right now HFS is confined to one high school, and then he shows an internet video of a student that overdosed on the shyt a few days ago, now the kid is dead. Jenko and Schmidt’s job will be to infiltrate the dealers and find the supplier so they can eradicate this drug before it reaches the general public and contaminates other schools. As undercover students our cops will also pretend to be brothers, Dickson has cleverly created their new identities and enrolled them both in courses based on their original past academic history. Nevertheless, they manage to get confused on the first day of school, so now Jenko becomes the nerd and Schmidt is the jock. Together they have a lot of fun violating many restrictions through their investigation as they try to fit in with these kids to get closer to their targets, but everything goes awry after Schmidt gets carried away with being popular and Jenko gets caught up trying to prove he’s not stupid. They wind up braking the Golden Rule which gets them fired off the squad, but they have infiltrated the dealer AND their case is just about to come to a head. And since they already missed out on Prom Night seven years ago, and they already screwed up their first arrest in the park; they plan on going to prom to meet the supplier and carry out their big drug bust.

This is a hilarious action comedy that has definitely earned its ‘R’ rating!

Act Of Valor (2012)

Family is not always related by blood or marriage.

A US Navy Seal platoon is called into action after a CIA drug and weapons investigation goes awry. Navy Intel suggests that the platoon’s intended package was trying to work a link between the CIA’s target: Christo, a narcotics /assault weapons dealer in Costa Rico and his childhood friend Abu Shabal, a Chechen terrorist working within South Eastern Asia. The Seal team’s mission is the personnel recovery of a kidnapped CIA agent.

Later, updated information obtained during the completion of the Seal team’s mission reveals that the CIA agent was about to uncover an even greater threat than drugs and heavy guns; Christo and Abu are working together to deploy an attack of mass death and devastation in America. Now the Seal team’s mission has been extended and they’ll have to split up to deactivate the imminent terrorist attack that is already underway just outside the United States of America.

In the end, an uncle passes a poem on from a hero father to his son while also clarifying the ultimate honor and sacrifice of a fallen American Soldier in his final act of valor to defend his family, country, wife and child.

This film is based on real acts of valor and inspired by true events.

Machine Gun Preacher (2011)

Based on the life of Sam Childers

Sam Childers (Gerard Butler) AKA Crazy Horse was a violent drug dealer from a biker gang, and he’s just been released from a Pennsylvania State prison; his wife Lynn (Michelle Monaghan) is waiting outside to take him home. Very few things have changed while he’s been away but he’s about to learn the main changes revolve around Lynn; she’s found Jesus and she wants Sam to find him too. Lynn has become a faithful follower at his mother’s church and tells him that she quit dancing at the stripper bar; she has a new job in a factory with good benefits. Sam is angered by this news and it gives him the perfect excuse to make an immediate return to the biker bar and, his first homecoming drug fix. From there it doesn’t take long to get right back into his old gang ways; until a violent run-in with a hitchhiker causes him to reevaluate the direction of his life. He accepts Jesus and gets baptized, but it takes an offer from a new friend after the devastation of a severe event for him to find a purpose; to help other people in need by using his building skills. Time passes, he’s been able to stay clean and turn his life around and after an inspirational sermon at the church by a pastor from Uganda; he begins to see a new purpose, a way to reach more people that may need his help even more than those right here at home, but he’ll have to go to Africa to do it. While there Sam meets Deng and Marco; Deng explains they are freedom fighters for SPLA (Sudanese People’s Liberation Army) they’re here to protect the area from rebels of the LRA (Lord’s Resistance Army.) At night the LRA attack villages, killing the men, women and babies while they steal the older children to rebuild their army. This news doesn’t sit well with Sam; later he witnesses the carnage and destruction after an LRA raid, he helplessly watches while scores of newly orphaned children return home to find their families butchered and scattered about the charred remains of their village. Sam Childers can finally hear his own calling in the grieving cries of the children left behind. His calling leads him to build a new village with an orphanage and a church/school, and his will leads him to fight beside the SPLA against the LRA to save as many lost African children that he possibly can as The Machine Gun Preacher.

This is a true story about life changing events, the inconceivable pain and suffering of children at an intolerable level and one man's redemption to end their terror.